CHAPTER THREE
THE SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE
OF COMMUNION
1533 Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They
ground the common vocation of all Christ's disciples, a vocation to holiness and to the
mission of evangelizing the world. They confer the graces needed for the life according
to the Spirit during this life as pilgrims on the march towards the homeland.
1534 Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the
salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service
to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to
build up the People of God.
1535 Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and
Confirmation[1] for the common priesthood of all the faithful can receive particular
consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated in
Christ's name "to feed the Church by the word and grace of God."[2] On their part,
"Christian spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and dignity of
their state by a special sacrament."[3]
ARTICLE 6 - THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY
ORDERS
1536 Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his
apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the
sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and
diaconate.
(On the institution and mission of the apostolic ministry by Christ, see above, no. 874
ff. Here only the sacramental means by which this ministry is handed on will be
treated.)
I. WHY IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED
"ORDERS"?
1537 The word order in Roman antiquity designated an established civil body, especially
a governing body. Ordinatio means incorporation into an ordo. In the Church there are
established bodies which Tradition, not without a basis in Sacred Scripture,[4] has since
ancient times called taxeis (Greek) or ordines. And so the liturgy speaks of the ordo
episcoporum, the ordo presbyterorum, the ordo diaconorum. Other groups also receive
this name of ordo: catechumens, virgins, spouses, widows,....
1538 Integration into one of these bodies in the Church was accomplished by a rite
called ordinatio, a religious and liturgical act which was a consecration, a blessing or a
sacrament. Today the word "ordination" is reserved for the sacramental act which
integrates a man into the order of bishops, presbyters, or deacons, and goes beyond a
simple election, designation, delegation, or institution by the community, for it confers a
gift of the Holy Spirit that permits the exercise of a "sacred power" (sacra potestas)[5]
which can come only from Christ himself through his Church. Ordination is also called
consecratio, for it is a setting apart and an investiture by Christ himself for his Church.
The laying on of hands by the bishop, with the consecratory prayer, constitutes the
visible sign of this ordination.
II. THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS IN
THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION
The priesthood of the Old Covenant
1539 The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation."[6] But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of
Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance.[7] A special rite
consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests are
"appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for
sins."[8]
1540 Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by
sacrifices and prayer,[9] this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about
salvation, needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a
definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish.[10]
1541 The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the priesthood of Aaron and the
service of the Levites, as in the institution of the seventy elders,[11] a prefiguring of the
ordained ministry of the New Covenant. Thus in the Latin Rite the Church prays in the
consecratory preface of the ordination of bishops: God the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, . . . by your gracious word you have established the plan of your Church. From
the beginning, you chose the descendants of Abraham to be your holy nation. You
established rulers and priests and did not leave your sanctuary without ministers to serve
you....[12]
1542 At the ordination of priests, the Church prays:
Lord, holy Father, . . . when you had appointed high priests to rule your people, you
chose other men next to them in rank and dignity to be with them and to help them in
their task....
you extended the spirit of Moses to seventy wise men.... You shared among the sons of
Aaron the fullness of their father's power.[13]
1543 In the consecratory prayer for ordination of deacons, the Church confesses:
Almighty God . . .. You make the Church, Christ's body, grow to its full stature as a
new and greater temple. You enrich it with every kind of grace and perfect it with a
diversity of members to serve the whole body in a wonderful pattern of unity.
You established a threefold ministry of worship and service, for the glory of your name.
As ministers of your tabernacle you chose the sons of Levi and gave them your blessing
as their everlasting inheritance.[14]
The one priesthood of Christ
1544 Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment
in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men."[15] The Christian tradition
considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High," as a prefiguration of the priesthood
of Christ, the unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek";[16] "holy, blameless,
unstained,"[17] "by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are
sanctified,"[18] that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross.
1545 The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is
made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. The same is true of the one
priesthood of Christ; it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without
diminishing the uniqueness of Christ's priesthood: "Only Christ is the true priest, the
others being only his ministers."[19]
Two participations in the one priesthood of Christ
1546 Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom,
priests for his God and Father."[20] The whole community of believers is, as such,
priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each
according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through
the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are "consecrated to be . . . a
holy priesthood."[21]
1547 The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common
priesthood of all the faithful participate, "each in its own proper way, in the one
priesthood of Christ." While being "ordered one to another," they differ essentially.[22]
In what sense? While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the
unfolding of baptismal grace-a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the
Spirit-,the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is
directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial
priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For
this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.
In the person of Christ the Head . . .
1548 In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present
to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive
sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by
virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis:[23]
It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents.
Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is
truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and
place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi).[24]
Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ,
and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.[25]
1549 Through the ordained ministry, especially that of bishops and priests, the presence
of Christ as head of the Church is made visible in the midst of the community of
believers.[26] In the beautiful expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop is typos
tou Patros: he is like the living image of God the Father.[27]
1550 This presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were
preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even sin. The
power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way. While
this guarantee extends to the sacraments, so that even the minister's sin cannot impede
the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always
signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the apostolic fruitfulness of
the Church.
1551 This priesthood is ministerial. "That office . . . which the Lord committed to the
pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service."[28] It is entirely related
to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has
been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church. The sacrament
of Holy Orders communicates a "sacred power" which is none other than that of Christ.
The exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ,
who by love made himself the least and the servant of all.[29] "The Lord said clearly that
concern for his flock was proof of love for him."[30]
. . . "in the name of the whole Church"
1552 The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of
the Church - before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the
whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when
offering the Eucharistic sacrifice.[31]
1553 "In the name of the whole Church" does not mean that priests are the delegates of
the community. The prayer and offering of the Church are inseparable from the prayer
and offering of Christ, her head; it is always the case that Christ worships in and through
his Church. The whole Church, the Body of Christ, prays and offers herself "through
him, with him, in him," in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. The whole
Body, caput et membra, prays and offers itself, and therefore those who in the Body are
especially his ministers are called ministers not only of Christ, but also of the Church. It
is because the ministerial priesthood represents Christ that it can represent the Church.
III THE THREE DEGREES OF THE
SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS
1554 "The divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by
those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, priests, and deacons."[32]
Catholic doctrine, expressed in the liturgy, the Magisterium, and the constant practice of
the Church, recognizes that there are two degrees of ministerial participation in the
priesthood of Christ: the episcopacy and the presbyterate . The diaconate is intended to
help and serve them. For this reason the term sacerdos in current usage denotes bishops
and priests but not deacons. Yet Catholic doctrine teaches that the degrees of priestly
participation (episcopate and presbyterate) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all
three conferred by a sacramental act called "ordination," that is, by the sacrament of
Holy Orders:
Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father,
and the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the apostles. For without
them one cannot speak of the Church.[33]
Episcopal ordination- fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders
1555 "Amongst those various offices which have been exercised in the Church from the
earliest times the chief place, according to the witness of tradition, is held by the
function of those who, through their appointment to the dignity and responsibility of
bishop, and in virtue consequently of the unbroken succession going back to the
beginning, are regarded as transmitters of the apostolic line."[34]
1556 To fulfil their exalted mission, "the apostles were endowed by Christ with a special
outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon them, and by the imposition of hands they
passed on to their auxiliaries the gift of the Spirit, which is transmitted down to our day
through episcopal consecration."[35]
1557 The Second Vatican Council "teaches . . . that the fullness of the sacrament of
Holy Orders is conferred by episcopal consecration, that fullness namely which, both in
the liturgical tradition of the Church and the language of the Fathers of the Church, is
called the high priesthood, the acme (summa) of the sacred ministry."[36]
1558 "Episcopal consecration confers, together with the office of sanctifying, also the
offices of teaching and ruling.... In fact ... by the imposition of hands and through the
words of the consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is given, and a sacred character is
impressed in such wise that bishops, in an eminent and visible manner, take the place of
Christ himself, teacher, shepherd, and priest, and act as his representative (in Eius
persona agant)."[37] "By virtue, therefore, of the Holy Spirit who has been given to
them, bishops have been constituted true and authentic teachers of the faith and have
been made pontiffs and pastors."[38]
1559 "One is constituted a member of the episcopal body in virtue of the sacramental
consecration and by the hierarchical communion with the head and members of the
college."[39] The character and collegial nature of the episcopal order are evidenced
among other ways by the Church's ancient practice which calls for several bishops to
participate in the consecration of a new bishop.[40] In our day, the lawful ordination of a
bishop requires a special intervention of the Bishop of Rome, because he is the supreme
visible bond of the communion of the particular Churches in the one Church and the
guarantor of their freedom.
1560 As Christ's vicar, each bishop has the pastoral care of the particular Church
entrusted to him, but at the same time he bears collegially with all his brothers in the
episcopacy the solicitude for all the Churches: "Though each bishop is the lawful pastor
only of the portion of the flock entrusted to his care, as a legitimate successor of the
apostles he is, by divine institution and precept, responsible with the other bishops for
the apostolic mission of the Church."[41]
1561 The above considerations explain why the Eucharist celebrated by the bishop has a
quite special significance as an expression of the Church gathered around the altar, with
the one who represents Christ, the Good Shepherd and Head of his Church,
presiding.[42]
The ordination of priests - co-workers of the bishops
1562 "Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his
apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his consecration and
mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying degrees various members of
the Church with the office of their ministry."[43] "The function of the bishops' ministry
was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in
the order of the priesthood and be co- workers of the episcapal order for the proper
fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ."[44]
1563 "Because it is joined with the episcopal order the office of priests shares in the
authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his Body. Hence the
priesthood of priests, while presupposing the sacraments of initiation, is nevertheless
conferred by its own particular sacrament. Through that sacrament priests by the
anointing of the Holy Spirit are signed with a special character and so are configured to
Christ the priest in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the
head."[45]
1564 "Whilst not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and
notwithstanding the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own
proper power, the priests are for all that associated with them by reason of their
sacerdotal dignity; and in virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, after the image of
Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, they are consecrated in order to preach the
Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship as true priests of
the New Testament."[46]
1565 Through the sacrament of Holy Orders priests share in the universal dimensions of
the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles. The spiritual gift they have received in
ordination prepares them, not for a limited and restricted mission, "but for the fullest, in
fact the universal mission of salvation 'to the end of the earth,"'[47] "prepared in spirit to
preach the Gospel everywhere."[48]
1566 "It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis)
that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; there, acting in the person of
Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the
sacrifice of Christ their head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again
and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that
namely of Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father."[49] From
this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength.[50]
1567 "The priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college and its support and
instrument, called to the service of the People of God, constitute, together with their
bishop, a unique sacerdotal college (presbyterium) dedicated, it is, true to a variety of
distinct duties. In each local assembly of the faithful they represent, in a certain sense,
the bishop, with whom they are associated in all trust and generosity; in part they take
upon themselves his duties and solicitude and in their daily toils discharge them."[51]
priests can exercise their ministry only in dependence on the bishop and in communion
with him. The promise of obedience they make to the bishop at the moment of
ordination and the kiss of peace from him at the end of the ordination liturgy mean that
the bishop considers them his co-workers, his sons, his brothers and his friends, and
that they in return owe him love and obedience.
1568 "All priests, who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of
Order, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but in a special way
they form one priestly body in the diocese to which they are attached under their own
bishop. . ;"[52] The unity of the presbyterium finds liturgical expression in the custom of
the presbyters' imposing hands, after the bishop, during the Ate of ordination.
The ordination of deacons - "in order to serve"
1569 "At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who receive the
imposition of hands 'not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry."'[53] At an
ordination to the diaconate only the bishop lays hands on the candidate, thus signifying
the deacon's special attachment to the bishop in the tasks of his "diakonia."[54]
1570 Deacons share in Christ's mission and grace in a special way.[55] The sacrament of
Holy Orders marks them with an imprint ("character") which cannot be removed and
which configures them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant of all.[56]
Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the
celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy
Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel
and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various
ministries of charity.[57]
1571 Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate "as
a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy,"[58] while the Churches of the East had
always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married
men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church's mission. Indeed it is
appropriate and useful that men who carry out a truly diaconal ministry in the Church,
whether in its liturgical and pastoral life or whether in its social and charitable works,
should "be strengthened by the imposition of hands which has come down from the
apostles. They would be more closely bound to the altar and their ministry would be
made more fruitful through the sacramental grace of the diaconate."[59]
IV. THE CELEBRATION OF THIS SACRAMENT
1572 Given the importance that the ordination of a bishop, a priest, or a deacon has for
the life of the particular Church, its celebration calls for as many of the faithful as
possible to take part. It should take place preferably on Sunday, in the cathedral, with
solemnity appropriate to the occasion. All three ordinations, of the bishop, of the pRiest,
and of the deacon, follow the same movement. Their proper place is within the
Eucharistic liturgy.
1573 The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in
the bishop's imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and in the bishop's
specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his
gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.[60]
1574 As in all the sacraments additional rites surround the celebration. Varying greatly
among the different liturgical traditions, these rites have in common the expression of
the multiple aspects of sacramental grace. Thus in the Latin Church, the initial rites -
presentation and election of the ordinand, instruction by the bishop, examination of the
candidate, litany of the saints - attest that the choice of the candidate is made in keeping
with the practice of the Church and prepare for the solemn act of consecration, after
which several rites syrnbolically express and complete the mystery accomplished: for
bishop and priest, an anointing with holy chrism, a sign of the special anointing of the
Holy Spirit who makes their ministry fruitful; giving the book of the Gospels, the ring,
the miter, and the crosier to the bishop as the sign of his apostolic mission to proclaim
the Word of God, of his fidelity to the Church, the bride of Christ, and his office as
shepherd of the Lord's flock; presentation to the priest of the paten and chalice, "the
offering of the holy people" which he is called to present to God; giving the book of the
Gospels to the deacon who has just received the mission to proclaim the Gospel of
Christ.
V. WHO CAN CONFER THIS SACRAMENT?
1575 Christ himself chose the apostles and gave them a share in his mission and
authority. Raised to the Father's right hand, he has not forsaken his flock but he keeps it
under his constant protection through the apostles, and guides it still through these same
pastors who continue his work today.[61] Thus, it is Christ whose gift it is that some be
apostles, others pastors. He continues to act through the bishops.[62]
1576 Since the sacrament of Holy Orders is the sacrament of the apostolic ministry, it is
for the bishops as the successors of the apostles to hand on the "gift of the Spirit,"[63]
the "apostolic line."[64] Validly ordained bishops, i.e., those who are in the line of
apostolic succession, validly confer the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy
Orders.[65]
VI. WHO CAN RECEIVE THIS SACRAMENT?
1577 "Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination."[66] The Lord Jesus
chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same
when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry.[67] The college of
bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the
twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ's return. The Church
recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason
the ordination of women is not possible.[68]
1578 No one has a right to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed no one claims
this office for himself; he is called to it by God.[69] Anyone who thinks he recognizes
the signs of God's call to the ordained ministry must humbly submit his desire to the
authority of the Church, who has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive
orders. Like every grace this sacrament can be received only as an unmerited gift.
1579 All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent
deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who
intend to remain celibate "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."[70] Called to
consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to "the affairs of the
Lord,"[71] they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this
new life to the service of which the Church's minister is consecrated; accepted with a
joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God.[72]
1580 In the Eastern Churches a different discipline has been in force for many centuries:
while bishops are chosen solely from among celibates, married men can be ordained as
deacons and priests. This practice has long been considered legitimate; these priests
exercise a fruitful ministry within their communities.[73] Moreover, priestly celibacy is
held in great honor in the Eastern Churches and many priests have freely chosen it for
the sake of the Kingdom of God. In the East as in the West a man who has already
received the sacrament of Holy Orders can no longer marry.
VII. THE EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF
HOLY ORDERS
The indelible character
1581 This sacrament configures the recipient to Christ by a special grace of the Holy
Spirit, so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for his Church. By ordination one is
enabled to act as a representative of Christ, Head of the Church, in his triple office of
priest, prophet, and king.
1582 As in the case of Baptism and Confirmation this share in Christ's office is granted
once for all. The sacrament of Holy Orders, like the other two, confers an indelible
spiritual character and cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.[74]
1583 It is true that someone validly ordained can, for grave reasons, be discharged from
the obligations and functions linked to ordination, or can be forbidden to exercise them;
but he cannot become a layman again in the strict sense,[75] because the character
imprinted by ordination is for ever. The vocation and mission received on the day of his
ordination mark him permanently.
1584 Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and effects salvation through the ordained
minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ from acting.[76] St.
Augustine states this forcefully:
As for the proud minister, he is to be ranked with the devil. Christ's gift is not thereby
profaned: what flows through him keeps its purity, and what passes through him
remains dear and reaches the fertile earth.... The spiritual power of the sacrament is
indeed comparable to light: those to be enlightened receive it in its purity, and if it
should pass through defiled beings, it is not itself defiled.[77]
The grace of the Holy Spirit
1585 The grace of the Holy Spirit proper to this sacrament is configuration to Christ as
Priest, Teacher, and Pastor, of whom the ordained is made a minister.
1586 For the bishop, this is first of all a grace of strength ("the governing spirit": Prayer
of Episcopal Consecration in the Latin rite):[78] the grace to guide and defend his
Church with strength and prudence as a father and pastor, with gratuitous love for all
and a preferential love for the poor, the sick, and the needy. This grace impels him to
proclaim the Gospel to all, to be the model for his flock, to go before it on the way of
sanctification by identifying himself in the Eucharist with Christ the priest and victim,
not fearing to give his life for his sheep: Father, you know all hearts. You have chosen
your servant for the office of bishop. May he be a shepherd to your holy flock, and a
high priest blameless in your sight, ministering to you night and day; may he always gain
the blessing of your favor and offer the gifts of your holy Church. Through the Spirit
who gives the grace of high priesthood grant him the power to forgive sins as you have
commanded to assign ministries as you have decreed and to loose from every bond by
the authority which you gave to your apostles. May he be pleasing to you by his
gentleness and purity of heart, presenting a fragrant offering to you, through Jesus
Christ, your Son....[79]
1587 The spiritual gift conferred by presbyteral ordination is expressed by this prayer of
the Byzantine Rite. The bishop, while laying on his hand, says among other things:
Lord, fill with the gift of the Holy Spirit him whom you have deigned to raise to the
rank of the priesthood, that he may be worthy to stand without reproach before your
altar to proclaim the Gospel of your kingdom, to fulfill the ministry of your word of
truth, to offer you spiritual gifts and sacrifices, to renew your people by the bath of
rebirth; so that he may go out to meet our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, your only
Son, on the day of his second coming, and may receive from your vast goodness the
recompense for a faithful administration of his order.[80]
1588 With regard to deacons, "strengthened by sacramental grace they are dedicated to
the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the service
(diakonia) of the liturgy, of the Gospel, and of works of charity."[81]
1589 Before the grandeur of the priestly grace and office, the holy doctors felt an urgent
call to conversion in order to conform their whole lives to him whose sacrament had
made them ministers. Thus St. Gregory of Nazianzus, as a very young priest, exclaimed:
We must begin by purifying ourselves before purifying others; we must be instructed to
be able to instruct, become light to illuminate, draw close to God to bring him close to
others, be sanctified to sanctify, lead by the hand and counsel prudently. I know whose
ministers we are, where we find ourselves and to where we strive. I know God's
greatness and man's weakness, but also his potential. [Who then is the priest? He is] the
defender of truth, who stands with angels, gives glory with archangels, causes sacrifices
to rise to the altar on high, shares Christ's priesthood, refashions creation, restores it in
God's image, recreates it for the world on high and, even greater, is divinized and
divinizes.[82]
And the holy Cure of Ars: "The priest continues the work of redemption on earth.... If
we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love.... The
Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus."[83]
IN BRIEF
1590 St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that
is within you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Tim 1:6), and "If any one aspires to
the office of bishop, he desires a noble task." (1 Tim 3:1) To Titus he said: "This is why I
left you in Crete, that you amend what was defective, and appoint presbyters in every
town, as I directed you" (Titus 1:5).
1591 The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in
the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the "common priesthood of the
faithful." Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists
another participation in the mission of Christ: the ministry conferred by the sacrament
of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ the
Head in the midst of the community.
1592 The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the
faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained
ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching (munus docendi),
divine worship (munus liturgicum) and pastoral governance (munus regendi).
1593 Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in
three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters, and that of deacons. The ministries
conferred by ordination are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church:
without the bishop, presbyters, and deacons, one cannot speak of the Church (cf. St.
Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Trall. 3,1).
1594 The bishop receives the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, which integrates
him into the episcopal college and makes him the visible head of the particular Church
entrusted to him. As successors of the apostles and members of the college, the bishops
share in the apostolic responsibility and mission of the whole Church under the
authority of the Pope, successor of St. Peter.
1595 Priests are united with the bishops in sacerdotal dignity and at the same time
depend on them in the exercise of their pastoral functions; they are called to be the
bishops' prudent co-workers. They form around their bishop the presbyterium which
bears responsibility with him for the particular Church. They receive from the bishop
the charge of a parish community or a determinate ecclesial office.
1596 Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not
receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions
in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of
charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop.
1597 The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a
solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordinand the graces of the Holy
Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character.
1598 The Church confers the sacrament of Holy Orders only on baptized men (viri),
whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recognized. Church
authority alone has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive the sacrament
of Holy Orders.
1599 In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally
conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freely and who publicly
manifest their intention of staying celibate for the love of God's kingdom and the service
of men.
1600 It is bishops who confer the sacrament of Holy Orders in the three degrees.
No comments:
Post a Comment